This invention relates to centrifugal separation equipment and, particularly, to degassers and desanders for used drilling mud.
The drilling mud which is pumped into a well during drilling frequently is returned to the surface carrying dissolved or suspended gases as well as sand and cuttings all of which must be removed from the mud before it can be safely fed back into the well. The apparatus heretofore provided for this purpose frequently is complicated, expensive, and bulky and requires piping for leading the gas-cut mud from the collection tank to the degasser unit and thence back to a clean mud tank. For instance, conventional drilling mud degasser units weigh as much as 6,000 lbs. and have multiple moving parts, such as a vacuum pump, a mud transport pump, floats, and switches. Futhermore, such equipment, because of its bulk, usually must be individually erected at the well site.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a drilling mud degasser apparatus which is very much simplified, less bulky and less expensive than previous devices for a similar purpose and which, nevertheless, is even more efficient than such devices.
Another object is to provide degasser apparatus having only a single movable part.
Another object is to provide such apparatus including a rotor body so arranged as to avoid the necessity of a separate stirring element to eliminate caking of mud on the equipment.
Another object is to provide such a degasser having greater separating capacity due to the application of centrifugal as well as suction separating forces.
Another object is to provide such a degasser which is relatively mobile so as to be adapted for mounting with existing mud systems, either in or connected to a contaminated mud tank or in a return mud pond.
Another object is to provide a degasser device which operates uniformly submerged in a tank or pond of gascut mud.
Still another object is to provide a degasser which incorporates desanding means.